6 | Nathan Ake - 2023/24

Nicholas van Whatsisface said:
But we did replace him.

We bought Gvardiol - a left footed centre back.

He’s a direct replacement for Laporte - a left footed centre back.

I don’t get the narrative that Laporte wasn’t replaced - when he very clearly was!
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Hes played all his minutes so far as a left back and suspect he will play most minutes there so i see him as Cancelo's replacement rather than Laporte's but if you want to say hes laportes replacement then we havent replaced cancelo.

Who directly replaces who isn't important, It's the numbers. 2 defenders were shipped out this summer, 1 came in, we have 7 defenders in the squad and always start 4. 1 is 18 and needs time to grow physically and 2 are prone to frequent injuries.
 
ninjamonkey said:
Hes played all his minutes so far as a left back and suspect he will play most minutes there so i see him as Cancelo's replacement rather than Laporte's but if you want to say hes laportes replacement then we havent replaced cancelo.

Who directly replaces who isn't important, It's the numbers. 2 defenders were shipped out this summer, 1 came in, we have 7 defenders in the squad and always start 4. 1 is 18 and needs time to grow physically and 2 are prone to frequent injuries.
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I get your point on numbers, but we’ve moved on from a player like Cancelo - and had already moved on from him during last season - so effectively he hasn’t been part of the conversation for almost a year now (given he wasn’t playing much in the couple of months running up to his departure last January).

Pep clearly decided we don’t need a player like Cancelo anymore, so he didn’t need replacing.

My reading on the situation is Laporte was replaced in the summer with Gvardiol.

But I do get your point on numbers - particularly given both Stones and Ake are very injury prone.

That said, both Lewis and Gomez are still nominally listed as defenders (and will still get minutes there) even though they’re both clearly way better in midfield.

They’re still options for lesser games if absolutely necessary.

That leaves 8 - although I personally hope we never see Gomez at left back again, and he permanently shifts forward into midfield.
 
freshie said:
Isn’t t that why we bought Gvardiol?
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For me, he’s an excellent buy and one for who we can have in the side and look to the future but we do need players to have to fight for positions not to be comfortable and as I say, there has to be considerations for players getting injured. We do play a lot of games.
 
Nicholas van Whatsisface said:
I get your point on numbers, but we’ve moved on from a player like Cancelo - and had already moved on from him during last season - so effectively he hasn’t been part of the conversation for almost a year now (given he wasn’t playing much in the couple of months running up to his departure last January).

Pep clearly decided we don’t need a player like Cancelo anymore, so he didn’t need replacing.

My reading on the situation is Laporte was replaced in the summer with Gvardiol.

But I do get your point on numbers - particularly given both Stones and Ake are very injury prone.

That said, both Lewis and Gomez are still nominally listed as defenders (and will still get minutes there) even though they’re both clearly way better in midfield.

They’re still options for lesser games if absolutely necessary.

That leaves 8 - although I personally hope we never see Gomez at left back again, and he permanently shifts forward into midfield.
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Yeah i wasn't comparing them on the pitch, they're vastly different and as you say, we've evolved from cancelo. I was talking purely from a numbers and nominal position point of view. In respect of the positions he's taking up on the pitch, he's more closer to cancelos replacement than Laporte.

It's true we managed the back end of last season without him, however it wasn't the plan. We started the season very much with cancelo in our plans and his falling out with pep meaning he was no longer an option meant drafting in a 17 year old for some big games.

Rico was obviously magnificent, took his opportunity and is now very much involved but we cannot be expecting to do that again. The recent news that we made a loan offer for cucurella last January to replace cancelo would suggest we were concerned with the numbers then too.

We also started last season anticipating gomez being an option in defence which we now know is no longer a viable option in defence. He's clearly a winger and unless we are spanking a side he will never play for us in defence.

We anticipated Laporte leaving all summer, we had the money and plenty of time to sort out adequate replacement, just find it odd that we didn't. It's a huge and unnecessary risk imo.
 
Stupid to let Laporte leave
Ake and Stones too injury prone.
 
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